First time mom new to forum in need of help

[BRINLOVE]

Hello,
I am new to this so I'm not quite sure how this works. I have a 9 month old who refuses to eat anything with texture or past stage 2 foods. The only finger foods she will eat are yogurt melts mainly because she doesn't have to chew them. She has 5 teeth but refuses to use them. Instead she gags and spits it out or makes herself throw up while she screams bloody murder. Her Dr says we need to keep trying and if she doesn't catch on she recommends she go for testing. I feel so bad because I know she is hungry and I end up giving in and going back to pureed foods. I know we will never make progress if I keep this up. Any suggestions or reassurance would greatly be appreciated. Thanks!

[Bokonon]

My DD pushed most foods out of her mouth until she was about a year old. Now at 15 months, she eats just about everything we put in front of her.

What kind of testing does your doctor want to do? It's really not that uncommon for a baby to reject solids. If she's doing fine with purees, just keep doing that and offer some finger foods - she'll get the hang of it eventually. 9 months is still very early! My DD wouldn't even eat purees EVER.

As far as the teeth - unless she has molars already, she probably won't be using her teeth for chewing. It's impossible to eat yogurt melts with front teeth, kwim? Babies use their gums to mash up food once they get comfortable having that different texture in their mouths.

[BRINLOVE]

Thank you. That me feel better. Felt like I was doing something wrong. Not sure what type of testing, she didn't say. I'm not a big fan of our pediatrician. I've been thinking about looking for another one, one more bf supportive. Thanks again I will give it more time.

[philomom]

Honestly, my second child thought all food was wall art for the longest time. I waited and he went straight to table food shortly after his first birthday. I think all these purees are an invention of modern times.

[hollytheteacher]

My son was almost exclusively bf until 14 months! He was not a fan of solids other than tastes here or there. Once he was 18 months he was eating like a champ. He recently weaned at 2 months before 3 years of age and has always been extremly healthy (despite being born with a cardiac defect).

I'd tell your ped to leave your feeding choices along and just keep nursing and only offering solids but not really worrying about it!

[nini02]

Originally Posted by hollytheteacher

My son was almost exclusively bf until 14 months! He was not a fan of solids other than tastes here or there. Once he was 18 months he was eating like a champ. He recently weaned at 2 months before 3 years of age and has always been extremly healthy (despite being born with a cardiac defect).

I'd tell your ped to leave your feeding choices along and just keep nursing and only offering solids but not really worrying about it!

Ditto to the bolded! "Baby food" is totally optional, you can wait until they show interest in real table food. Breast milk is all they need for at least the first year.

[Artichokie]

How do you know your dd is hungry? She should be able to get enough actual nutrition from your breast milk- at her age food is just for practice.

My suggestion is that you cut up some pieces of banana and avocado and just put them in front of her at the table and let her play with them. Some of it will make it in her hair, some on her shirt, a bunch on the floor, and eventually, some in her mouth. We never used baby food and I never fed my dd - we just put some baby friendly food in front of her starting at 6.5 months and let her experiment with it.

[EdnaMarie]

Oh, gosh, I think nine months is very early to push past stage two if the child doesn't want to. I mean, some children do want to and that's great. But my first didn't like anything but mush and soups for the first 13.5 months. The second is far more experimental. If it were my own child, I wouldn't be concerned until after a year, and even then, not that concerned.

By the way, does your baby have teeth? Teeth are not always a sign of readiness but I find it interesting that my first got way more interested in solids when she had a couple of teeth, and the second (who got teeth earlier, waaaay earlier) was similar. If your child doesn't have teeth, maybe that's just her genetic makeup, to eat solids later.

Welcome to MDC!

[Comtessa]

to MDC!

Your baby sounds perfectly normal to me. At 9 months my DD would eat a few purees and Cheerios and not much else. Oh, and birthday cake, but that's because her daddy had a birthday when she was 9 months old and we (er, he) let her have a taste of the frosting.

If your DD is eating a good variety of purees and getting plenty of breastmilk, IMO you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I think if your instinct is telling you to get a new ped, you should go and do it! We switched peds three times before DD's first year in order to find one that would be supportive of our parenting choices and not give us stupid, counterintuitive, medically unsupported, unsolicited advice.

You'll find lots of support for taking care of your little one on the Life With a Babe board; keep posting there if you need advice! MDC has been a wonderful resource for me as a first-time mom. Also, if you are thinking about switching peds, look up your region in the Finding Your Tribe forum and post there for advice -- that's how we found our last ped and he's a MUCH better fit than the first three.

We're glad you're here!

[BRINLOVE]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I wasn't concerned about her eating until the Dr said she wasn't eating enough solids (we were doing purees 2-3x a day). I'm going to continue the way we were and let my DD tell me what she wants not a Dr who is strictly text book. Thanks again and I am glad I joined this forum!

[paquerette]

Both of mine were late eaters. Played with the food until well over a year. I wouldn't worry too much.

As far as the doctor, I would just gloss over questions that I don't think they're going to be on the same page as you about. If you know he wants to hear that she eats three solids meals a day, just say "oh yes, we give her a variety of solids at mealtimes". He doesn't have to know that you put it on her tray and she dumps it all on the floor.

[seattlemamma]

I agree with pp. My children were breastfed exclusively until 10-12 months old. Then really soft bite size fruits and veggies..occasional cheerios, kix, and mums. They ate pretty much all foods by 18 months.

[dawncayden]

I find what the experts say is the right amount of food for kids is totally unrealistic and WAYYYYY too much. I'd just make sure she nurses a ton and let her eat what you are eating. Don't measure it out, just offer and if she doesn't want any then don't push it.

[proudmomof4]

Hello and welcome to MDC!

Nothing to add, you heard what you've gotta hear...

[tinybutterfly]

I am moving this to Life With a Babe.



tinybutterfly

[LadyCatherine185]

Ditto to all the above advice. Totally normal for a 9 month old to not be interested in solids at all. My DS didn't become interested in actually eating much until closer to 14/15 months. He now is a FANTASTIC eater, some days eating as much as I do!

Where in VA are you? We see a GREAT ped, they have a couple offices, one in Richmond, one in the West End (of Richmond), and one in Glen Allen. He is wonderful, very pro-breastfeeding. There is also a female ped in the same practice who is pro-breastfeeding as well.. Let me know if you want their names/number! Your ped is way wrong.

[Pookietooth]

I think probably the ped has seen kids who couldn't move past pureed foods who later turned out to have problems, and has assumed that all who have trouble are therefore doomed. I do have a friend whose son had trouble for a long time with textures, and it turned out he had enlarged tonsils and adenoids that were getting in the way. There are other kids I've known who were picky eaters who turned out to have food sensitivities (not that they test for that), and a couple who have sensory processing issues. But I'm sure that there are plenty who just were slow to move on. Some kids don't even eat solids their first year.

[toughcookie]

i think you've got enough people telling you to take it at your/baby's own speed by now, just wanted to say that when you think she MAY be more welcoming, little bitty chunks of ripe avocado, ripe banana, really mushy cantelope, and a small pile of small-curd cottage cheese would be good candidates. since you're already feeding her yogurt, the cottage cheese shouldn't be a problem. the avocado is expensive but most babies love it, and it is pretty caloric, if you worry about decreased BFing and hunger.

good luck. oh, and if you can, find a ped you like and trust. it's such an important person in your/your child's future.

[mrs.t]

I don't know when it's the right time to introduce solids since I'm a first time mom as well, but I have worked with children who have sensory issues, and usually it's better to have one texture going on at a time. For example, yogurt that has "fruit" in it is too confusing because once it's in your DD's mouth, she won't know whether to chew, swallow, mash it against her gums, etc. Just a thought...maybe introduce mushy table foods like mashed bananas or something that has a consistent texture so she doesn't really have to think about it, or give her something really crunchy like dry cheerios if she wants to chew.

[Tway]

Our DD, also 9 months, likes her purees still with a few bits of cheese or bread or other solids for her to play around with. Tried a tiny bit of watermelon the other day and, oh!!!, the drama! Hair pulling, crying, face pulling, gagging, the whole bit. So I scooped out the tiny piece and will try again another day.

I wouldn't worry. My ped was actually impressed she eats 3 tbsp of fruit and veggies a day. I wouldn't worry!